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Auto Express Car Reviews
BMW 535d
1,000 issues on & we’re still breaking records.
We celebrate 1,000 issues of Auto Express in record breaking style.
Photos: Matt Vosper
24th February 2008
Auto Express is in the record books! Not only have we reached a landmark issue, but, in order to celebrate our 1,000th edition, we have established our own motoring world first – in a diesel!
Setting land-speed records in oil-burners isn’t a new idea. The JCB Dieselmax made history in August 2006 by hitting 350.092mph at Bonneville Salt Flats in the US, while the experimental Mercedes C111 set no less than 16 endurance benchmarks back in 1976. But our idea was unique: to establish a record for the world’s fastest diesel production car – something that didn’t previously exist.
The first question was which model to use. Today’s most powerful oil-burner is VW’s 5.0-litre V10 TDI, but neither the Touareg nor Phaeton it features in had the combination of aerodynamics, weight, power delivery and gearing we were after. So instead we turned to BMW’s 282bhp 3.0-litre twin-turbodiesel. But which model to use? The 335d is lightest, the 635d appears fastest on paper, but it was the 535d, with a superior drag factor (0.27Cd) and better gearing that we opted for.
Yet setting a record in a production car isn’t simply a matter of removing the speed limiter and seeing how fast the vehicle will go. The regulations allow a certain amount of modification – so we called in engine tuning expert, DMS Automotive, which gave us the car and tweaked the motor.
The result was 344bhp and 638Nm of torque. “We could have gone higher,” said DMS senior technician James Manning. “But we wanted to ensure the six-speed auto could handle the extra torque, and that the car remained driveable and reliable, too.” That sorted, all we needed was a venue. The UK had nowhere suitable. The diesel wouldn’t hit its maximum on even the longest runway or fastest proving ‘bowl’. Yet there’s one venue in Europe with a history of hosting record attempts. Not Germany’s Nürburgring, but the huge Nardo vehicle-testing facility in Italy.
The 12.5km (7.8-mile) circuit is banked, so that at 155mph there are no cornering forces acting on the car – you can take your hands off the steering wheel and it will hold its line. Winter is also the perfect time to visit, because the cooler temperatures deliver denser air to the engine, meaning more power and less risk of overheating.
So, with the car on a transporter, our road test editor Ollie Marriage and DMS’s James Manning travelled to Italy with representatives from Germany’s technical motoring association, TUV Rheinland, who were responsible for the timing.
We had two days to make our mark. The first was spent carrying out checks, alterations and a couple of test runs, so Ollie could familiarise himself with the track. Nardo’s surface isn’t level the whole way round, and conditions can get windy, playing havoc with high-speed stability.
Instead of the standard rims, lightweight alloys taken from an M6 were fitted. These reduced the car’s unsprung weight, and were shod with new ContiSportContact VMAX tyres which are specifically designed for high speeds. The pressures were adjusted, the car’s tank half-filled with high-cetane diesel and our super saloon was ready for its record-breaking mission. That was more than could be said of Ollie when the alarm sounded at 4am the next morning! It was still pitch black as our intrepid team put the finishing touches to the 535d. This mainly consisted of strapping on two sets of Racelogic GPS timing gear – our own system and the TUV’s specially calibrated set-up.
Preparations over, nerves settled and helmet on, we finally set off. From the word go, the 535d felt awesome. Accelerating through third and fourth, the engine felt smoother and more linear than standard – a testament to DMS’s know-how. As we rose towards the top of the banking, the BMW picked off each 10mph increment with incredible ease – until it hit 157mph, that is. There, it seemed unable to gain any more speed – a worrying moment.
Was the speed limiter still engaged, wondered Ollie? Luckily that wasn’t the case. The BMW’s torque peaks at a mere 2,400rpm, and a few hundred rpm short of the red line in fifth gear, the engine had no more to give. There were a few nervous seconds, yet as soon as Ollie selected sixth the 535d accelerated again, the needle passing right off the 160mph speedo.
From there on, we had to rely on the digital GPS readout – and we couldn’t quite believe what we were seeing. Towards the end of the first lap we clocked nearly 170mph, but then, inexplicably, the speeds dropped off and the BMW became slightly nervous.
As we had circled Nardo’s bowl, we came round into a headwind – not too strong, but enough to slow the car a little – and also upset the aerodynamics. We could feel the nose lift a fraction, causing the steering to go light – nerve-wracking at 165mph, especially with the crash barrier flashing past only inches from the driver’s door.
After 30 seconds or so, the speeds began to pick back up, helped by a slight downslope (there’s a 13-metre height variation between Nardo’s highest and lowest points). Past 170mph, the car still felt fuss-free, planted and secure, the engine inaudible alongside the tyre roar from the concrete surface. We hit 171.0mph, 171.1mph, 171.2mph... watching each tenth arrive from inside the calm cockpit. The scenery outside was a blur.
Our timing gear finally came to a rest at 173.8mph – a feat it replicated on the following two laps. Convinced the car would go no faster, we eased off and came back in, having covered nearly 40 miles in only 15 minutes. Incidentally, the 535d averaged 14.5mpg during the five laps.
But the real moment of truth came when the timing officials plugged their box of tricks into a laptop and the vital numbers flashed up on the screen: exactly 280.0km/h – or 174.0mph in old money.
We were ecstatic – we’d hoped to come close to 170mph but had thought getting beyond that in a 3.0-litre diesel executive saloon would be a struggle. The 535d surpassed our expectations, recording the same top speed as Porsche claims for its 911 Carrera 4. But how long will the record stand? Audi recently announced its R8 TDI. At the moment it’s a concept, but we have a feeling the BMW won’t hold the cards by the time Auto Express celebrates its 2,000th anniversary!
Setting land-speed records in oil-burners isn’t a new idea. The JCB Dieselmax made history in August 2006 by hitting 350.092mph at Bonneville Salt Flats in the US, while the experimental Mercedes C111 set no less than 16 endurance benchmarks back in 1976. But our idea was unique: to establish a record for the world’s fastest diesel production car – something that didn’t previously exist.
The first question was which model to use. Today’s most powerful oil-burner is VW’s 5.0-litre V10 TDI, but neither the Touareg nor Phaeton it features in had the combination of aerodynamics, weight, power delivery and gearing we were after. So instead we turned to BMW’s 282bhp 3.0-litre twin-turbodiesel. But which model to use? The 335d is lightest, the 635d appears fastest on paper, but it was the 535d, with a superior drag factor (0.27Cd) and better gearing that we opted for.
Yet setting a record in a production car isn’t simply a matter of removing the speed limiter and seeing how fast the vehicle will go. The regulations allow a certain amount of modification – so we called in engine tuning expert, DMS Automotive, which gave us the car and tweaked the motor.
The result was 344bhp and 638Nm of torque. “We could have gone higher,” said DMS senior technician James Manning. “But we wanted to ensure the six-speed auto could handle the extra torque, and that the car remained driveable and reliable, too.” That sorted, all we needed was a venue. The UK had nowhere suitable. The diesel wouldn’t hit its maximum on even the longest runway or fastest proving ‘bowl’. Yet there’s one venue in Europe with a history of hosting record attempts. Not Germany’s Nürburgring, but the huge Nardo vehicle-testing facility in Italy.
The 12.5km (7.8-mile) circuit is banked, so that at 155mph there are no cornering forces acting on the car – you can take your hands off the steering wheel and it will hold its line. Winter is also the perfect time to visit, because the cooler temperatures deliver denser air to the engine, meaning more power and less risk of overheating.
So, with the car on a transporter, our road test editor Ollie Marriage and DMS’s James Manning travelled to Italy with representatives from Germany’s technical motoring association, TUV Rheinland, who were responsible for the timing.
We had two days to make our mark. The first was spent carrying out checks, alterations and a couple of test runs, so Ollie could familiarise himself with the track. Nardo’s surface isn’t level the whole way round, and conditions can get windy, playing havoc with high-speed stability.
Instead of the standard rims, lightweight alloys taken from an M6 were fitted. These reduced the car’s unsprung weight, and were shod with new ContiSportContact VMAX tyres which are specifically designed for high speeds. The pressures were adjusted, the car’s tank half-filled with high-cetane diesel and our super saloon was ready for its record-breaking mission. That was more than could be said of Ollie when the alarm sounded at 4am the next morning! It was still pitch black as our intrepid team put the finishing touches to the 535d. This mainly consisted of strapping on two sets of Racelogic GPS timing gear – our own system and the TUV’s specially calibrated set-up.
Preparations over, nerves settled and helmet on, we finally set off. From the word go, the 535d felt awesome. Accelerating through third and fourth, the engine felt smoother and more linear than standard – a testament to DMS’s know-how. As we rose towards the top of the banking, the BMW picked off each 10mph increment with incredible ease – until it hit 157mph, that is. There, it seemed unable to gain any more speed – a worrying moment.
Was the speed limiter still engaged, wondered Ollie? Luckily that wasn’t the case. The BMW’s torque peaks at a mere 2,400rpm, and a few hundred rpm short of the red line in fifth gear, the engine had no more to give. There were a few nervous seconds, yet as soon as Ollie selected sixth the 535d accelerated again, the needle passing right off the 160mph speedo.
From there on, we had to rely on the digital GPS readout – and we couldn’t quite believe what we were seeing. Towards the end of the first lap we clocked nearly 170mph, but then, inexplicably, the speeds dropped off and the BMW became slightly nervous.
As we had circled Nardo’s bowl, we came round into a headwind – not too strong, but enough to slow the car a little – and also upset the aerodynamics. We could feel the nose lift a fraction, causing the steering to go light – nerve-wracking at 165mph, especially with the crash barrier flashing past only inches from the driver’s door.
After 30 seconds or so, the speeds began to pick back up, helped by a slight downslope (there’s a 13-metre height variation between Nardo’s highest and lowest points). Past 170mph, the car still felt fuss-free, planted and secure, the engine inaudible alongside the tyre roar from the concrete surface. We hit 171.0mph, 171.1mph, 171.2mph... watching each tenth arrive from inside the calm cockpit. The scenery outside was a blur.
Our timing gear finally came to a rest at 173.8mph – a feat it replicated on the following two laps. Convinced the car would go no faster, we eased off and came back in, having covered nearly 40 miles in only 15 minutes. Incidentally, the 535d averaged 14.5mpg during the five laps.
But the real moment of truth came when the timing officials plugged their box of tricks into a laptop and the vital numbers flashed up on the screen: exactly 280.0km/h – or 174.0mph in old money.
We were ecstatic – we’d hoped to come close to 170mph but had thought getting beyond that in a 3.0-litre diesel executive saloon would be a struggle. The 535d surpassed our expectations, recording the same top speed as Porsche claims for its 911 Carrera 4. But how long will the record stand? Audi recently announced its R8 TDI. At the moment it’s a concept, but we have a feeling the BMW won’t hold the cards by the time Auto Express celebrates its 2,000th anniversary!
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